Servicemen grimaced to hear radio announcers speak in the first-person plural—“We”—when referring to American forces fighting overseas. They snorted at the expression “home front.” As if scrap metal drives and victory gardens could turn a peaceful republic into a battlefield! Posters on factory walls told workers to think of themselves as “soldiers of production.” Soldiers! With their eight-hour shifts and fat paychecks! Everywhere on this so-called home front, servicemen encountered billboard patriotism and war bond sales kitsch. They shook their heads in sorrow at the appropriation of the
...more
